Question 1

How do I set up a Valheim dedicated server?

Accepted Answer

Your server's start command and core settings live on the Startup page: server name, world name, and password are set there as startup variables. Valheim requires a password of at least 5 characters; the server will not start without one. Decide on a world name before your first start, since this is the name Valheim uses for the save files it generates and changing it later starts a brand new world rather than renaming the existing one. The first start takes a few minutes longer than normal, since the server downloads the Valheim dedicated server files before it can generate the world. Watch the Console page for progress; a successful start ends with a line confirming the game server is listening for connections. Your server is public by default and appears in the in-game server browser under its configured name. If you would rather keep it private, set Public to 0 on the Startup page; a private server will not appear in the browser. Either way, friends can always join directly - give players your server's address and port from the Network page along with the password. World save files are written to .config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local - note that is a hidden dotfile path, not the server root, so you will not find it by clicking around from the top level - as a .db and .fwl pair named after your world. Back these up regularly from the Backups page: a corrupted or lost world file cannot be recovered any other way.

Question 2

Can I install mods on a Valheim server (BepInEx)?

Accepted Answer

Not at the moment. Server-side mods are not supported on Zeros Host Valheim servers today, and uploading BepInEx to your server will not load it. Valheim mods load through BepInEx, which has to be injected before the game starts. On Linux that means launching the server through BepInEx's own start script, so it can set the loader up first. Our Valheim servers launch the game binary directly, and the start command itself is not editable from the panel - you can change startup variables such as server name, world name and password, but not the command that runs. So BepInEx files placed on the server are simply ignored, and nothing about them will appear in your Console. An earlier version of this guide described an upload procedure and told you to watch the Console for BepInEx loading each plugin. That procedure could not work on our servers, and those log lines were never going to appear. If you tried it and saw nothing, you did not do it wrong. What does still work is client-side-only mods. A mod that changes your own interface, camera or visuals, and does not change how the game behaves, runs entirely on your machine and needs nothing from the server. Mods that change gameplay - ValheimPlus, content mods, balance and difficulty mods - must be loaded by the server as well as every player, so they cannot be used on a Zeros Host Valheim server for now. If server-side mods matter to you, tell us through the contact form or on Discord. Supporting BepInEx is a change to how the server is started rather than a setting we can switch on, so it is a piece of work rather than a toggle, and demand is genuinely how we decide what to build next.

Question 3

How do I manage, back up, or replace my Valheim world?

Accepted Answer

Your active world is a matched pair of files in .config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local - note that is a hidden dotfile path, not the server root, so you will not find it by clicking around from the top level. In there you will see: .db (the world data) and .fwl (metadata, including whether it's a custom seed). Both files share the name set in your Startup page world name variable; the server will not find your world if the files and the variable disagree. To back up your world, use the Backups page rather than only relying on the raw files; scheduled backups protect you if a crash or bad shutdown corrupts a save mid-write. You can also download the .db/.fwl pair directly via File Manager for an off-panel copy. To move an existing single-player or another host's world onto your server, stop the server, upload that world's .db and .fwl files to the same .config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local folder via File Manager, rename them to match your Startup page world name exactly, and start the server. To start completely fresh instead, stop the server, delete or rename the existing .db/.fwl pair (back them up first if there is any chance you will want them back), and start; Valheim generates a new world on that next boot using the world name and any seed you configured. A world seed can only be set at creation. If you want a specific seed, you need to set it before that world's files exist, either by wiping first or by choosing the seed on your very first start.

Question 4

How do I invite friends to my Valheim server?

Accepted Answer

The most direct route is "Join IP" from Valheim's main menu. Enter your server's address and port, which you'll find on the Network page in the panel, then the password when prompted. This works whether your server is public or private. Your server is public by default, so it also appears in the in-game "Servers" browser under its configured name and friends can search for it there instead. If you would rather it not be listed, set Public to 0 on the Startup page; a private server will not appear in the browser. To give trusted players admin commands in-game (spawning items, flying, etc.), add their Steam64 ID to adminlist.txt, one ID per line, then restart the server. That file is at .config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/adminlist.txt - the same hidden dotfile folder your world saves live in (one level up from worlds_local), not the server root, so you will not find it by clicking around from the top level. The permittedlist.txt (allow-list for a private server) and bannedlist.txt sit alongside it. If a file is not there yet, start the server once and Valheim creates it. Their Steam64 ID is found through any Steam ID lookup site using their profile URL.

Valheim help